Wild Card
by Little Bit of Frog
Summary: Todd wrestles with his disease as he, Farah, and Bart launch a rescue mission to save their friends from Blackwing. I do not own any of these characters. I'm just a fan who got so excited waiting for the new season that I started writing one to help ease the wait.


Wild Card

It had been four months. Four months since Dirk and Amanda vanished. Four months since Estevez was murdered. Four months since Todd was laying on the floor, curled up in the fetal position as he watched his hands dissolve. It was the first sign that he really had the disease he had faked for so long.

Thankfully, Farah was quick on her feet. When she realized Dirk was missing, she figured out what was happening. She found Todd and dragged him to safety, despite his struggling and screaming. When the attack ended, and he saw his hands were still intact, he knew exactly what had happened. They went to a doctor that had been on secret retainer for the Spring family. Fortunately, the doctor and Farah had kept in touch. Dr. Hubert had made the official diagnosis, though they were being hunted by a secret government organization and therefore nothing about them was "official" anymore.

Some days, Todd could almost feel Blackwing breathing down his neck. He and Farah stayed on the move, trying to collect clues to help them find their lost friends and family. It was difficult tracking a secret government agency that was also hunting them.

Todd had no idea he could be so impressed with a person before he got to know Farah. They should have been captured a thousand times, but she kept them going and hidden with so much skill and resourcefulness that Todd was in compete awe of her. She taught him how to fight and use a gun. She taught him survival skills and how to analyze information and clues. He had picked up how to use the information they collected to pitch ideas for their next move. It was actually his plan, with Farah's modifications, that they would be executing the next day. He was glad he'd at least found something he could contribute.

"I'm such a burden." Amanda had said in reference to her disease.

"You're not." Todd said a million times. "I know how you feel."

 _I knew nothing._ He thought as he took his before bed pill. He hated that pill. It made his brain cloudy and his body sleepy. If they had to make a break for it in the middle of the night, he would be a serious liability. But the pill reduced his chances of having a pararibulitis attack the next day, so he and Farah decided it was worth the risk.

Farah had to do nearly all reconnaissance without him. There was too high a chance he would have an attack and blow their cover. He would stay a distance away with maps or floor plans or sewer schematics or whatever, and feed her the information over the comm.

Farah came in from loading the van.

"Everything's set." She said. "We can leave as soon as we're up and ready." She looked at the glass of water Todd was holding. "Took your pill?"

He nodded. "Right or left tonight?" he asked.

"Left." She said.

He nodded and climbed into bed and rolled onto his left side. Farrah laid down next to him and spooned up against his back.

Four months ago, this would have been an exciting and romantic gesture. Todd had been trying to work up the courage to ask her out before his world collapsed that day. The closer they had become over their time together, the more Todd felt for her. And the more sure he became that the feelings could never be mutual.

Farah took her right arm and wrapped it across Todd's chest, with her hand resting on the pillow near his face. Todd winced at the memories of why they had to sleep that way. Of all the times he'd had an attack and couldn't get to his medicine. How they'd both stopped sleeping because of fear of a nighttime attack. This was the best solution they could come up with.

"Now I'll have a way to know if it's happening." Said Farah "Even if you can't call for help."

Todd remembered the first time he stopped breathing. He'd been crushed under a hallucination of sand being poured on his face. The doctor had given them a drug that could be injected in extreme circumstances. But he had warned them that there would be "unpleasant side effects".

Farah had plunged the syringe into Todd's thigh and his lungs mercifully began to accept air. Then Todd projectile vomited all over both of them. Due to the temporary paralysis the drug caused. He'd had to lay limp and helpless on the floor as Farah cleaned him up. He'd never been so humiliated in his life.

Not once had she ever shamed him for his condition, and that almost made it worse.

"Goodnight, Todd." She said.

The pill was making his vision swim. "G'nigh…" he slurred as he was involuntarily plunged into unconsciousness.

She was ready when he woke up. He dressed and drank black coffee as they went over their plan one more time. It was risky, but they didn't expect rescuing Dirk to be easy. Todd stared at the building plans for the billionth time.

"It's a good plan." Said Farah. "We're going to get them out."

"We ready?" asked a husky voice. Bart stood in the doorway. She had showered the night before, but she looked no less terrifying. At least she'd smell less like a slaughterhouse as they rode in the van to their destination.

Todd double checked his gun as Farah drove. He realized Bart was staring at him.

"What?" he asked in what was probably a too aggressive tone to direct at an assassin.

"You." She said. "You're like a time bomb. A wild card. I don't know what I think about you."

"Yeah." He said. "Me either."

He was scared. So scared. He could blow the whole thing in a second. Get them all captured or killed. But the plan required three people, and he was their only option for their third. And he was in charge of actually releasing Dirk from his cell.

 _No pressure or anything._

Todd and Farah hid in a ditch while Bart took out the guards. Farah hated this part of the plan since it relied so heavily on Bart's hard to predict and even harder to explain ability. But it was the only way they could find to get in.

"Clear." Said Bart's gravelly voice in Todd's earpiece.

They were in the building and there was no turning back. Whatever happened at this point, they were going to have to roll with it. Bart handed each of them the keycards she had lifted off the guards she had killed.

"You two better be at the rendezvous when you're supposed to be or I'm leaving without you." Bart grunted as she turned and went down the hall towards where Ken was being held.

Farah looked at Todd. "You good?"

"As much as I ever am." He said.

Farah put her hand on Todd's shoulder. "You've got this."

 _As long as my body doesn't betray me._ He thought. But what he said was "Yeah."

Farah put her hands into a cup position as Todd stepped into it and she boosted him into the open air vent.

"See you at the rendezvous point." He said as he closed the vent behind him.

Todd barely fit. There was much discussion about sending one of the narrower team members through instead. But it was imperative that Farah be the one at the control booth, and Bart refused to go anywhere that didn't lead to Ken. That left Todd as the one to brave the claustrophobic route.

"We aren't even sure he will fit!" Farah had argued.

"He'll be fine." Bart said with a dismissive wave. "If the Universe wants him to fit, he will fit."

Farrah glared at Bart. "You are jeopardizing this mission."

"I'll be ok." Said Todd. "According to these building schematics, I should be able to squeeze through."

"Should and will are not the same thing." Farah said. She turned to face Bart. "His shoulders are wider than ours. It isn't like he can just suck that in."

"Look," said Todd "you have to be in first position or this whole thing falls apart. And Bart is… inflexible on her part. I can make it."

Bart glared back. "The Universe seems to be ok with that. And you'd have to kill me before I'd change my mind, and that would leave you down another person." She shrugged her blood-stained shoulders. "Your call."

Todd reached the junction in question. He put his arms up over his head and pulled his shoulders up as close to his ears as possible as he did a "dive" motion to get through. He made it. Barely. And the next section wasn't much roomier as he army crawled his way through. He tried not to think about what would happen if he had an attack in there. Especially since it was too tight for him to reach his pocket for his pills. Sweat was pouring down his face and his muscles screamed to be let out of such a confined space. He made it to the end of his route and waited.

Finally, Farah's voice came in over his earpiece.

"Internal sensors deactivated."

Todd began removing the vent cover and poured his stiff body into the hallway below. He gave himself just a moment to stretch before he began following the corridor to Dirk's cell.

He hadn't even had time to pull out his gun when a guard that was outside his scheduled route suddenly appeared in front of Todd. Thankfully, the guard was more surprised than Todd, but the guard managed to knock the gun out of Todd's hand when he tried to point it at him. The guard swung at Todd, but Todd successfully blocked and gave a counterpunch that sent his opponent reeling back. Todd dove for the gun as the guard lunged towards him. He punched Todd in the gut, but not hard enough to keep Todd from knocking the guard unconscious with the butt of his gun.

Todd was breathless and a little dizzy, but seemed no worse for the wear. He knew they were lucky. If that guard had his radio, then it would have been over already. Todd turned and began jogging towards Dirk's cell.

"Guard down in the East Wing." Said Todd over the comm. "They're going to figure it out soon."

"Almost to the Rowdies." Said Farah. "If we're not out soon, we're not going to make it out."

"Heading to the van now." Said Bart. "You two jokers better be where you're supposed to be."

"Copy that." Said Todd, who was amazed at how winded he was. The climb and the tussle must had been more exhausting than he thought.

He got to his position. Around the corner was Dirk's cell. Two guards were supposed to be standing outside his door. Without looking, and risking being seen, Todd squatted down and rolled the smoke bomb Farah had taught him how to make.

The guards hit the ground before they'd even had time to call back up. The gas should have dissipated before Todd got close, but he put on his mask just to be safe. He stood, and had an immediate head rush that forced him to lean on the wall for support. He stepped over the unconscious guards and used the card that Bart had obtained to get in the cell.

The door opened and there was Dirk, sitting on the edge of his cot. As soon as Dirk saw Todd, he leaped behind the bed and threw up his hands in a defensive posture.

"My name is Dirk Gently!" he cried "And there is nothing you bloody lot can do to me to make me believe otherwise!"

"Dirk!" Todd cried as he pulled off his mask. "We're here to rescue you!"

Dirk's expression instantly transformed into joy as he ran to his friend.

"Todd! I knew it! I knew you'd come!"

But before Dirk could embrace him, Dirk froze, arms still up in the air in a pre-hug position.

"What happened to you?" Dirk asked. There was a look of genuine fear in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Todd asked.

"What am I… look at you!"

Todd was confused. He looked down at his clothes and shoes. "Dirk, what are you…"

An alarm began blaring.

"Rendezvous! Now!" Farah's voice blasted over the earpiece.

"We have to run!" Todd barked as he and Dirk began racing down the hall.

"This way!" Todd yelled to him. He had intended to lead the way, but he was getting slower and slower. It was like a dream where the harder you try to run, the less progress you make. And he realized his left leg was starting to drag.

 _What's happening to me?_

Todd was terrified that he was about to have another pararibulitis attack, but where was the pain?

Dirk grabbed Todd and threw his friends arm across his shoulders as they ran together.

"There!" Todd pointed to a door and Dirk changed course to run towards it. They burst through it and into the yard just as a guard spun around from his post and pointed his machine gun at them. He'd almost had time to yell "Halt!" before the getaway van ran him down.

There were Rowdies hanging out the windows, throwing rocks and various other items while they shouted at and taunted their pursuers.

The back of the van burst open and Farah yelled "Run!"

The van had slowed, but it was still moving. Todd's legs were barely working and Dirk scooped him up and began running with Todd in his arms.

Farrah and the blond Rowdy reached down and pulled Dirk and Todd into the van. The Rowdy shut the door only after he planted his foot in the face of an unfortunate guard who tried to climb in behind them.

Bart was in the driver's seat and howled with delight. "Our wild card paid off!" she cried as she mowed down a few more people.

Todd was about to ask what he could do to help when Farah and Dirk grabbed hold of him and gently, but firmly, lowered him to the floor of the van.

"What happened?" Farah demanded as Todd was laid out on his back.

"I have no idea." Said Dirk "He showed up in my cell like this."

"What? What do you mean?" Todd asked.

Farah yanked up Todd's shirt and pressed a cloth against his stomach. Todd stared wide eyed at her.

"That doesn't hurt?" she asked.

"N… no. Why? Why would it hurt?"

"What's wrong with him?!" Dirk shrieked. "Why is it as if he has no idea what's happened to him!?"

Todd was beginning to panic. "Ok, you're really starting to scare me."

"Todd," Farah said in her bodyguard keep everyone calm voice, "you've been stabbed."

"I… I what?"

Farah lifted the cloth from his abdomen to examine the wound. Dirk glanced down at it and began gagging.

Ken knelt next to Farah. "He needs a doctor. Now."

Todd propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at his gut. He couldn't see anything wrong.

"You need to lay still." Said Farah.

"Look, I want to know what's going OH SON OF A…!"

The pain hit all at once with no warning. Todd dropped on his back as he was completely overwhelmed by it.

Farah's voice barely broke through the agony. "Todd! Todd! You need to focus on my voice! Stay with us!"

He couldn't focus. He couldn't think. His body started to twitch.

"What's happening?!" Dirk cried.

"He's going into shock. Todd, Todd hang on! We're getting you to help! Just hang…"

Everything went black.

The first thing Todd became aware of was the beeping. The steady beep of a heart monitor. He was lying in a bed. He had a pillow semi propping him up. He felt warm and numb and safe.

He had to work to open his eyes. His lids felt heavy. Everything felt heavy. Even his brain felt weighted down and slow. It took a moment for him to register what he was seeing in front of him. Three faces. They were staring at him. As his vision came into focus, he realized they belonged to Farah, Dirk, and the Spring's Dr. Hubert.

"There we go." Said the doctor. "Now we're coming back to the land of the living."

Todd blinked. He swallowed and realized his mouth was dry. "Wha…"

"We got you help!" Dirk exclaimed happily. "Just in time too! You needed surgery!"

"Sur… surgery?"

"You lost a lot of blood." Said Dr. Hubert "Gave us a real scare. But you're recovering rather nicely if I do say so myself."

"What happened?" Todd's voice was weak, but at least he could talk.

"You had a pararibulitis attack." Said Dr. Hubert as he checked Todd's vitals. "But instead of hallucinating an injury, you hallucinated that you were not injured."

"Is… is that a thing?" Todd asked.

"Apparently so. I'd write a paper about it if you were here officially. "

Todd blinked some of the blurriness from his vision. "So… we did it?"

Farah smiled. "We did. We got everyone out."

"And!" Dirk said a bit too loudly "We have a lead on Amanda! Todd, the Rowdies are tracking her now! They say she is alive and well!"

"Really?" Todd tried to sit up and immediately regretted it.

"Lay still." Said Dr. Hubert. "You're not out of the woods yet. Get some rest. You've done enough for a while."

"Thank you." Todd said weakly as the doctor left.

Farah reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. There was a tenderness in her eyes that Todd hadn't really seen before.

"I thought we lost you." She said with a slight catch in her voice.

"But you didn't." Todd said as he reached over and put his hand on hers. "You won't get rid of me that easy."

"Ohh! Ohh!" Dirk cried "He's awake! You have to tell him!"

Farah shot Dirk a look.

"Tell me what?" Todd asked.

"It was nothing." Farah said a little too quickly.

"It wasn't nothing!" Dirk exclaimed.

"It was an… intense and impulsive moment." She said without looking at either of them.

"An intense and impulsive moment that brought out some TRUTH!" Dirk quipped.

"What?" Todd said as he looked back and forth between them.

Dirk sighed dramatically. "You can't just say stuff like that out into the universe and not expect repercussions! You said if he woke up you would tell him how you felt and he woke up! You have to tell him!"

Todd's eyes widened. "I… you… what?"

"Hey Dirk," said Farah "how about some privacy." It was not a question.

Dirk was crestfallen. "Oh fine. I'll see if I can locate some food. Blackwing wasn't much for culinary creations." Dirk leaned down and hugged Todd. It hurt, but Todd managed to keep from crying out. "Thank you for saving me." Dirk said just before bounding out of the room and closing the door behind him.

There was an awkward silence.

"Look," said Todd "this whole thing was weird and I almost died and you don't have to tell me anything."

"No." said Farah in an aggravated tone. "Dirk's right. Again. Just let me get it out."

Todd nodded.

"I…" Farah started "I respect you. A lot. I admire your bravery and your tenacity and how you keep moving on and pushing forward even with everything that has been happening to you. It could have broken you and it didn't. You were even willing to cram yourself into an air vent we weren't positive you could fit through to save a friend. Most people wouldn't do that even without an unpredictable death disease looming over them."

She took a breath. "This whole thing. The way you've picked up these skills and so quickly became such an asset to our team. How you never made any excuses for not being able to do something, you just found something you could do and did it. You've really kept me going these last few months."

Todd stared at her. "Are you serious? I've felt like I've been nothing but a burden and a liability. You did all the heavy lifting."

"None of which I could have done without you and your contributions." She said "Can't you see that?"

"I guess… I hadn't." He reached over and took her hand. Something he probably wouldn't have been bold enough to do the day before he almost died. "Thank you." He said. "I have so much respect for you and you have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that."

Farah squeezed his hand. "That's… uh… that's not all I promised I'd say."

"Oh?" he said.

Farah shifted her weight uncomfortably. "I… I promised that if you pulled through… I'd… uh… ask… um… ask you out."

Todd felt his mouth drop open. Whatever the doctor had given him must have been stronger than he thought, because there was no way he could have heard that.

"It's fine if you don't want to." Said Farrah quickly. "I know the last few months have been… strange, and I don't want you to feel obligated. I've been told I'm a bit… intimidating. And I completely understand if it would just make things awkward since we already sleep together. Well, not sleep together, but share a bed… in the non-biblical sense of course and…"

"Farah," Todd said. She looked over at him, visibly relieved that her ramblings had been interrupted. "I'd love to." He said "I've wanted to ask you for ages but I never thought you'd want… me."

Farah looked genuinely surprised. "Why wouldn't I want you?" she asked.

"Because," he said "you're you. An intelligent, beautiful, millionaire, one-woman militia who could kill a man with a paperclip and I'm the unemployed sidekick who sometimes falls to the ground and screams for no apparent reason."

"Is that really how you see yourself?" she asked.

"I don't understand how that isn't how you see me." He said.

Farah looked him in the eyes. "This is how I see you." And she leaned down and kissed him.

It took a split second for the surprise to pass enough for him to kiss her back.

"Well?" she asked as she gently brushed his hair off his forehead.

"Totally worth getting stabbed and almost dying." He said.

Farah laughed. Todd reached over and began to pull her in for another kiss when Dirk burst through the door.

"I couldn't take waiting anymore! Congratulations!" Dirk sprinted over and embraced them both.

Between Dirk talking a mile a minute and Dr. Hubert coming in and out to check his vitals, the room was hardly private. There was still a lot of work to do. They had to find Amanda and were still on the run. But as Todd felt his energy wane and everyone insisting that he rest, he held Farah's hand and knew, somehow, that they were going to make things right.


End file.
